Mooring

Measurement Technology NW (MTNW) has recently completed a contract to provide installation, calibration and commissioning on an eight-point mooring monitoring system for Frontier’s drill ship, Duchess, off the coast of Nigeria. The new running line tensiometer and LCI-90 mooring monitoring system provides visibility into line tensions which will support mooring and rig movement monitoring.
The Duchess is a 475 ft by 75 ft vessel which needs to stay centered over an offshore oil-well for months on end despite sea states and drilling activity. The MTNW Line Control Instrument (LCI) Mooring Solution allows the rig manager to keep rig positioning to within a very small tolerance for lateral movement. The goal for most rig managers is to maintain movement to within a 12 inch circle while drilling activity occurs. This is a .2% margin for error.
“Without knowing exactly where your anchors are and the tension in your mooring lines, the rig manager can’t accurately position the ship,” said Tom Rezanka, Director of the LCI division of MTNW. “With subsea pipelines crisscrossing the bottom of the ocean and dynamic sea states, mooring line monitoring becomes a necessary part of rig management for personnel and property safety.”
In a traditional mooring setup, if problems occur, the vessel operator will notice a sudden change in position and will attempt to rectify the situation before the ship drifts too far breaking the drill column

The Aker Kvaerner subsidiary, Maritime Pusnes, has had a busy start to the new year winning contracts for over NOK 180 million. The contracts involve both marine and offshore equipment demonstrating MP's strength in both these market sectors.
The contract awards comprise:
Two contracts to supply mooring and riser pull-in equipment for a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel that will be located off the coast of Angola

CSO Aker Marine Contractors, Inc. (CAMC), one of the Houston-based entities of the Coflexip Stena Offshore Group, announced the successful mooring of Diamond Offshore's rig the Ocean Confidence using a preset taut leg mooring with polyester rope and CAMC's SEPLA anchoring system while under contract to BP. The mooring location is in the Gulf of Mexico in 6,385 ft. (1,946 m). The project represents a significant advancement in deepwater mooring.

A contract for mooring equipment for a pipelaying barge marks Cargotec’s successful entry to the Vietnamese offshore market.
In July this year, Cargotec won a contract from the joint stock company Vinh Nam (VAM JSC)/TECMACH to supply mooring equipment outfits for Vietsovpetro’s 110m-long by 30.5m-breadth pipelaying crane barge, Con Son. The 1969-built vessel is currently undergoing a conversion at Dung Quat Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd.

Lankhorst Ropes Offshore Division is undertaking a research project into the development of cut resistant jackets for mooring ropes in the Norwegian and Barents Seas. The project will be used to assess materials needed to reduce the effects of fishing trawler lines on synthetic fiber mooring lines.
Deepwater moorings, beyond 800m, in the Norwegian and Barents Seas are subject to extreme weather and wave conditions. The synthetic mooring ropes must provide high abrasion resistance and be

Aker Kvaerner has been awarded a contract for delivery of mooring winches and fairleads for Statoil's Gjøa Semi. The total contract value for Aker Kvaerner.
The work will be undertaken by the Aker Kvaerner subsidiary, Aker Kvaerner Pusnes in Arendal. The contract involves supply of on-vessel mooring equipment for Statoils Gjøa Semi to be installed at the Gjøa field in the North Sea. The equipment, Roller Ram Winches and Fairleads for chain are to be delivered and installed at Aker

Tritech has developed a system for the real-time integrity monitoring of mooring lines, umbilicals and risers on Floating Production Storage and Offloading Units (FPSOs).
RAMS (Riser and Anchor Monitoring System) is a 360 degree riser and anchor chain monitoring system for FPSOs that is deployed beneath the vessel and monitors the presence, integrity and position of mooring lines and risers 24/7 from a single sonar head.

InterMoor, an Acteon company, has completed its first permanent mooring work in the Lufeng oilfield, South China Sea.
This project was also the company’s first for Chinese installation contractor China Offshore Oil Engineering Co. Ltd. The Nanhai Sheng Kai floating, storage and offloading unit (FSOU) has been in service since 1992, surpassing its 12-year original estimated design life. Consequently, its subsea mooring system had begun to deteriorate and corrode

InterMoor, an Acteon company, has opened its new mooring equipment yard at Loyang offshore supply base in Singapore.
The new facility provides mooring equipment storage and an ideal support location for maintenance, preparation and mobilization.
Allowing easier access, this purpose-built yard will meet customers’ needs better and will provide a safer working environment for InterMoor staff. It will play a pivotal role in the company’s development plans for South East

SBM Offshore has entered an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line) for the acquisition of a stake in the joint venture companies incorporated for the purpose of owning and operating Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Turritella

Dive and salvage teams worked to remove debris used as anchor blocks by environmental activists protesting Shell’s Arctic drilling aboard a barge in Seattle’s Alki Seacrest Park on May 19.
A dive team from Global Diving & Salvage, Inc

BHP Billiton has approved $240 million (BHP Billiton share) to purchase six additional tugs and construct a new eight pen Tug Harbour at Hunt Point in the Port Hedland Port.
The investment will also include the upgrade of workshop facilities

Ship Handling by Hervé Baudu
Responding to the recommendations arising from the STCW convention on the knowledge of maneuvering required of deck officers, the book Ship Handling analyzes all aspects of a vessel's maneuverability, whether passing through open water or confined waters

Three ships were involved in a collision on the lower Mississippi River near Convent, Louisiana, Monday when a bulk carrier broke free from its mooring and drifted into a moored towing vessel and then an offloading tank ship. The U.S. Coast Guard is responding.

The automated mooring system at the Port of Ngqura in South Africa’s east coast is poised to improve port efficiency and safety, cementing the deep water port’s position as a leading transshipment hub for the Sub-Saharan region. The system comprises 26 mooring units

Aqueos Corporation, a provider of subsea services to the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Coast, has entered into a long term time charter of the OSV Clean Ocean, a California Air Emission Compliant 155’ offshore support vessel (OSV), for its West Coast and International operations.

Marine operations company Green Marine Energy Support Services, based in Stromness, Orkney, took delivery of a Damen Multi Cat 2712 workboat for its offshore wave and tidal activities, the builder announced.
The vessel’s first job was laying the moorings for and towing Green

Argentinian company Cooperativa De TrabajosPortuariosLimitadade San Martín signed a contract forthe delivery of two Damen ASD 2810 tugs and one Cutter Section Dredger 500. The twovessels and dredgerare to be used in the Argentinian terminal region around Rosario on the Paraná

MacGregor, part of Cargotec, has signed a major contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd in South Korea to supply a range of Hatlapa deck machinery for ten 172,600m3 liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. MacGregor will deliver electrically-driven deck machinery

Drydocks World the leading provider of maritime and offshore services to the shipping, oil, gas and energy sectors marked a major milestone in successfully completing the world’s largest turret mooring system with His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President